Fellows participating in the Emprendedores Ecuatorianos (Ecuadorian Entrepreneurs) program work on the details of their business plans at session in November 2014.

Ecuador, the land of the eternal spring, the Middle of the World, and the Galapagos Islands, is also a land where nearly 26 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Seven of every ten people are employed informally — meaning they lack official contracts and may not be subject to worker protections — and over half are employed by businesses that are not legally registered. The entrepreneurial context in Ecuador is characterized by young entrepreneurs (73 percent are younger than 44 years old) with a variety of motivations: increasing their income, seeking independence, necessity, among others.

As of 2010, Ecuadorian women surpassed men in number of entrepreneurs (54 versus 46 percent). Entrepreneurship has long been recognized as a key source of empowerment and economic independence for women around the world, and particularly in Latin America.

The Emprendedores Ecuatorianos program, organized by CIPE partner the Ecuadorian Institute of Political Economy (IEEP), works to foster democratically and free-market minded entrepreneurs from the rural areas of Ecuador. To date, 45 women have completed the Emprendedores Ecuatorianos program. One of the 2013 graduates, Brenda Sumba, shared some of her thoughts on women as entrepreneurs.

Read More…

Comments Off on Entrepreneurship and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Ecuador

In recent years, Latin America has seen an overall shift away from media independence and freedom of the press — only one in 50 Latin Americans live in free media environments, according to Freedom House, even though the majority of Latin American countries are still democracies. The biggest drop — 15 points in the last five years — was in Ecuador, a clear illustration of the problems that can occur when democratically elected leaders curtail media freedom.

This law, which Correa lauded as a step toward the democratization of media and a strengthening of freedom of expression as it broke up a near-monopoly of news sources owned by a single family, also opened the door to greater state intervention in the media.

The major concern for media outlets is that many aspects of the law were left ambiguous, allowing for broad interpretation and arbitrary application. For instance, Article 26 of the law prohibits “media lynching” and allows public officials being investigated for corruption by the media to sue the journalist or the newspaper doing the investigating. Article 71 of the law defines information as a “public good” equal to water quality and electricity, and therefore subject to increased regulation by the state.

The most recent case of the Correa administration battling perceived defamation in the media is that of Xavier Bonilla, a political cartoonist known by the pen name Bonil.

Over the course of June and July, nearly 1,000 high school and university students in cities throughout Ecuador learned about business plan development, leadership and communication, market economy, and democracy. However, they did not learn about these topics by reading their textbooks or from listening to a professional consultant or workshop facilitator. Uniquely, the message on the importance of a market economy, democracy, and an entrepreneurial climate came from a group of 45 aspiring young leaders and entrepreneurs. These 45 university students from rural areas of the country are the first participants in the Emprendedores Ecuatorianos (Ecuadorian Entrepreneurs) program organized by the Ecuadorian Institute of Political Economy (IEEP).

The Emprendedores Ecuatorianos program, launched earlier this year with local private sector and CIPE support, is modeled after the successful EmprendeAhora program in Peru. In this its first year, IEEP selected 45 participants based on a lengthy application process. The educational program took place from March to May at the Universidad del Espiritu Santo in Guayaquil and consisted of 100 hours of courses on leadership, business plans, democracy and economy, marketing, and human development.

Read More…

Comments Off on Bringing Youth Entrepreneurship Education to Rural Ecuador

On September 28, the Ecuadoran public voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting a new constitution that had been swiftly drafted by the Constitutional Assembly and finalized by the government of President Rafael Correa. Little analysis has been applied to this 150-page document. What will this mean for the rule of law in Ecuador?

What is understood about the provisions of the new constitution is worrisome; the lack of understanding in Ecuador about how the constitution will be interpreted is of even greater concern. A number of the constitution’s provisions could present challenges to the rule of law and the future of private investment in Ecuador, including:

– Expanded executive control over the judicial and legislative branches of government, as well as the central bank.
– Respect for property rights is now based on ambiguous notions of social and environmental responsibility. The provisions leave huge discretionary decision-making to the government to define what this means.
– The government will be able to intervene in the pricing of market goods.
– International arbitrage is now prohibited in contracts for foreign investment.

While it is unclear how the government will implement the new constitution, the anti-business tenor of the document and its cloudy definition of property rights and contract law will likely inhibit future foreign investment in the country, and turn back progress made to date.

Dora de Ampuero of the Ecuadorian Institute of Political Economy (IEEP) explains that “the new constitution is structured in such a way that much of its content is confusing, which gives the executive the opportunity to interpret the new text however they best see fit.” She further explains that “It is still too early to know where the country is heading, but if the guiding principles of the constitution are followed, then Ecuador will become a closed economy that will be limited by government intervention.” IEEP has been engaged in an active campaign to promote better understanding of the market economy and the principles of democracy through a weekly radio and television program and public forums, with a particular focus on issues that are important to young leaders. This work is especially important now that the new constitution has been approved.